Hosting Christmas
by Zip Goes A Million
Summary: Sybil and Tom celebrate their first Christmas with their first child. Secret Santa for gothamgirl28.


_This is my Secret Santa gift for gothamgirl28. She wanted a fic where Sybil and Tom celebrate their first Christmas with their first child, and this is the result. I was so certain that I wouldn't get it written on time, but I got my arse in gear and managed it at the last minute. Merry Christmas! I hope you like this fic!_

* * *

Sybil crawled back into bed, desperate to feel the warmth radiating off her husband's body. It was a frosty Christmas morning and she had been forced out of the comfort of her bed upon hearing her two month old daughter, Erin, crying for a feed. She longed for an uninterrupted night's sleep, but she couldn't resist the calls of her child. The feed was brief and luckily Erin slipped back into the land of dreams mere moments after being laid back in her cot.

As Sybil encased her body once again in the warm duvet, she found her husband's shoulder and rested her head there, his arm moving around her body to pull her closer. Sybil smiled softly to herself with the thought that, although Tom wasn't really conscious, he still wanted her as close to him as possible. As much as she loved her husband, the only thing she wanted at this moment in time was sleep. She closed her eyes and let her breathing slow as she drifted off into darkness.

-ooo-

Sybil awoke to find Tom no longer by her side. He can't have got up long ago – his side of the bed was still warm. Sybil lay in bed staring at the white painted ceiling of their bedroom for a few minutes, before she adjusted herself so that she was sitting up against her pillows. She yawned into the back of her hand and rubbed her fingers over her eyes in an attempt to liven up her brain a little. When Sybil refocused her eyes on the room in front of her, she saw Tom walking in with two mugs of coffee in his hands. His hair was sticking up every which way, and, despite the cold, he was wearing a pair of pyjama bottoms but no top. Sybil couldn't have loved him any more at that moment. He placed one mug on Sybil's bedside table and kissed her temple.

"Morning," he said, his Irish accent thick, as it usually was first thing in the morning. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," Sybil replied.

Tom walked round to his side of the bed and placed his mug on the side as he fell back into his spot. As soon as his body hit the mattress, his daughter began crying.

"I'll get it," he said, heaving himself back off the bed. He left the room and returned a few moments later with his daughter wriggling in his hands.

"She needs feeding," Sybil said, looking at the time displayed on the digital clock on her bedside table.

Tom carefully passed Erin to Sybil, where she settled in the nook of Sybil's arm. Sybil lifted her pyjama top above her breast and her daughter immediately latched on.

-ooo-

While it seemed so simple now, Sybil never thought she'd be able to feel so comfortable with motherhood. When Erin was born, Sybil felt entirely clueless. She was the youngest in her family, so had never seen how a baby should be handled. She had initially been worried that she wouldn't know what to do or how to react to what Erin did, but she had been swiftly convinced by Tom's family and her own that she would be a natural mother when the time came. Despite the positive thinking and endless encouragements, nothing felt natural when the time actually did come. She was scared to hold Erin, fearful that she might drop her, scared to bathe her, fearful that she might drown, scared to leave her sleeping alone, fearful the she might suffocate. She was a beautiful little girl, but Sybil was terrified that anything she might do may harm her. Such a defenceless little girl needed a mother who knew what she was doing.

Although motherhood was not instinctual for Sybil, fatherhood was entirely instinctual for Tom. Tom was the middle of three brothers, and had always been caring. He'd looked after his brothers and his cousins and his friends – if anyone needed comforting, Tom was their first port of call. Everyone knew that Tom would be a natural father, even if he did doubt himself in the days running up to the birth of his first child.

The first few weeks of parenthood were very tough on the couple. Their whole lives had changed in just one night, and they had yet to adjust to the new arrangement. Sybil never did very well on only a few hours of sleep, but now a few hours of sleep was the most she could ever get at once. She relied on Tom to do most of the housework because all Sybil seemed to be able to do was eat, breathe and sleep with little time left over to do anything else.

They argued, they cried, they made up, and repeated the process in a seemingly never-ending cycle. When Tom's mother offered to take Erin off their hands for a day, they jumped at the chance. A completely child-free day they could have spent sightseeing or tidying the house, they instead decided to spend lounging on the sofa, snuggled together under the warmth of blankets, watching films (and catching up on some sleep during a few of them). It was just what the two of them needed; the perfect date. They'd had very few problems since then.

Breastfeeding became easier and easier for Sybil with each try. She slowly became less cautious about picking up Erin and by now, Christmas Day, things couldn't have been going much smoother.

-ooo-

As Sybil fed Erin, Tom slid back into bed beside them and snaked his arm around Sybil's shoulders.

"We've got a long day ahead of us," Tom said quietly.

This year, it was Sybil and Tom's turn to host Christmas for their families. In the past, they had had to split their time between the Crawleys and the Bransons (at least, those that were living in England or visiting), often spending the morning with one family and the afternoon with another. But this year they would be hosting the Crawleys and the Bransons together for Christmas lunch.

Their little house would be completely full. From Sybil's family would be Mary and Matthew, Edith and Bertie, and Cora and Robert. From Tom's family would be Tom's younger brother, Daniel, with his partner Nick, and their adopted children, Mia and Faye, Tom's older brother, Adam, and his mother, Jackie. In total, there would be fifteen mouths to feed and fifteen people to keep entertained.

It would not be an easy day by any stretch of the imagination, but with any luck it would be a day to build happy memories.

"I know," Sybil replied. "But it will be special because it's our first Christmas as parents."

-ooo-

Sybil and Tom allowed themselves to wake up slowly, get dressed and make their way downstairs. Tom wore a pair of jeans and a pale purple shirt, and Sybil was dressed in a pair of burgundy jeans and a plain white top with an oversized cream cable knit cardigan over it.

Downstairs, Tom settled on the sofa, playing peekaboo with Erin, as Sybil went to make some toast for breakfast. When Sybil returned to the living room, she handed Tom a plate with two slices of buttered toast from behind the sofa and leant to kiss him on the cheek.

She sat on a chair across the room and smiled at the sight of her husband playing with their daughter. Sybil loved seeing Tom interact with Erin. Before Erin was born, Sybil knew that Tom would make a good father. He had always been very good with Mia and Faye, and Sybil could only imagine that he would be even better with children of his own. She hadn't been disappointed. From the moment Tom had first looked his daughter in the eyes, he had felt an instinctive sense of protection and love. She meant the world to him and two months later, he couldn't imagine life without his little girl.

When Sybil and Tom had finished breakfast and chatted for the morning, they began to get ready for the day ahead of them. Between playing with Erin, feeding her, changing her and putting her down for naps, Sybil and Tom chopped and prepared vegetables, prepared the turkey, made stuffing and ensured that all their timings were correct so that everything would be ready in time to eat at around 1:30 when their families would be with them.

It felt like they had barely even had the chance to wake up when they heard a key turn in the lock of their front door. Tom was just walking out of the kitchen and Sybil was feeding Erin whilst sitting on the sofa. The couple looked at each other as if to say _good luck_ to one another. They turned their gazes to the front door to see Mary, Matthew, Edith and Bertie.

"Hey!" Sybil called across the room, not moving as she was holding her daughter against her breast.

A chorus of "Merry Christmas" and "Hello" came from the group of sisters and brothers-in-law clambering to get through the door into the warmth of the house.

Mary walked towards Sybil and gave her a kiss on the cheek over the back of the sofa. Just then, Erin gurgled and stopped feeding, so Sybil pulled down her top and handed her daughter to Tom so that he could burp her and put her down for a nap. Tom excused himself and went upstairs, allowing Sybil to properly say hello to the rest of her family. They brought in their presents and placed them under the tree, adding to the small stack that Sybil and Tom had already created.

"Where are mama and papa?" Sybil asked.

"They're on their way," Edith said. "They left a bit late, but they should be here within the hour."

"No surprise about being late," Sybil commented. If Cora was left to her own devices she'd be out of the house on time, but give her the task of rounding up Robert and there was no telling how late they'd be. "Settle down; make yourself at home," Sybil said. "If you don't get a seat now you might be stuck with the floor all day." That was the problem with hosting a large family in a small house – some people inevitably would have to sit on the floor.

-ooo-

As a family, they chatted about Christmases past and laughed at their memories. Sybil quietly thought there was something poignant about the situation. Three sisters and their husbands, gathered together at Christmas, laughing and enjoying themselves. Sybil wished that she had always been this close with her sisters, but they had only really become close in recent years, after they were no longer living together. A bit of space was all they needed to love each other like they always should have done.

Almost an hour later the six of them were interrupted by a ring on the doorbell. They weren't expecting that. All of Sybil's family had keys to her and Tom's house, as did all of Tom's family. Tom got up to answer the door to find his two nieces standing on the doorstep.

"Hey, girls," he said as they jumped into his arms.

They soon scrambled away and ran into the house, quickly followed by their parents. Daniel, Tom's brother, called after them to take their coats and shoes off before trekking mud and rain through the house. He followed after them to catch up with them, his husband behind. Nick took a quick moment to say hello to Tom before also chasing his daughters.

Behind him followed Adam, Tom's older brother, and their mother, Jackie, who, between them, were carrying their presents.

Tom was about to close the front door when he spotted Cora and Robert pulling up, so he left the door open for them.

Once everyone was finally in the house they all settled in the living room, only for them to hear Erin crying upstairs.

"Daddy, is that the baby?" Mia, the eldest of the children, said.

"Yes, darling," Nick said.

"Can we see her?" Faye asked.

"Why don't you let Uncle Tom and Auntie Sybil check on her first, and when she's ready you can say hello. How about that?" he answered.

"Okay," his daughters said in unison, clearly a little upset that they wouldn't be able to see their baby cousin straight away.

Sybil and Tom both ventured upstairs to see what their daughter was crying about.

"Are you alright, love?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said with a smile as they approached their daughter. "Why?"

"It's just that we've never hosted Christmas day together before. We're hosting more people than we've ever hosted before and we've got a baby. I just want to make sure that you're not overwhelmed."

"I can deal with it," Sybil said as she picked up her daughter and rocked her gently. She placed her on their changing table and Tom set about changing her. "Remember, I have experience of large family gatherings. We always had them around this time of year when I was a child."

"Yeah," Tom said. "But never with my family and never whilst having to host and look after your own child."

"I'll be fine," Sybil reassured. "I promise I'll tell you if I feel overwhelmed." She leant over to Tom and kissed his cheek.

-ooo-

After about quarter of an hour, after Erin had been changed, fed and burped, Sybil and Tom emerged downstairs, with Tom holding his daughter in his arms.

Whilst the young parents had been upstairs, Daniel and Nick had discussed with their daughters the importance of being gentle and quiet when they saw Erin, so they shushed each other and sat patiently on the sofa side by side.

Sybil collapsed on the sofa next to the girls and Tom carefully gave his daughter to his nieces. They held her together under the watchful eyes of their Auntie Sybil and two dads.

Tom kissed Sybil's head and went to the kitchen to check on the turkey and put the vegetables on. He was joined by a few of the other adults who wanted to lend a helping hand.

-ooo-

Christmas songs were sung (mostly out of tune), games were played and laughs were had by everyone in the Branson-Crawley house.

Christmas lunch rendered everyone too full to do much else and then presents were handed out. The two girls, Mia and Faye, took it upon themselves to hand out the gifts, with a bit of help from an adult every now and then to read the labels which had been written in particularly illegible handwriting.

People laughed at the presents that were meant as a joke and were touched by those that were meaningful. Kisses were had, hugs were exchanged and love filled the small house.

In some ways it felt like a lifetime, but in some ways it felt like only thirty seconds, but seemingly all too soon, everyone left to return to their own houses to enjoy their own time with their closest families.

As much as Sybil and Tom loved having both sides of the family together, they had to admit that it was exhausting and they both felt like they hadn't stopped since they woke up, dealing with a rowdy family, their two month old daughter, and the stresses of cooking a Christmas lunch for so many people.

What the young couple needed was a rest. So Sybil settled on the sofa with a book, leaning against Tom, who had his arm around her, only to read a few pages before drifting off, the book still open on her lap. Tom kissed the top of Sybil's head, pulled a blanket around them and allowed himself to fall asleep on the sofa with her.

-ooo-

As was all too common these days, they were woken by the sounds of their wailing daughter. Sybil groggily shifted in her seat and mumbled, "I'll go" with a voice that cracked from sleep. She left Tom on the sofa, not sure if he was really awake.

She climbed the stairs and turned the corner to her daughter's room. "Hey there little one," she whispered. She picked Erin up and sat on the rocking chair holding her to feed her.

-ooo-

Tom stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the door frame to the nursery, as he watched his wife lay their daughter down for another nap. He smiled to himself as he watched the beauty of the two most important girls in his life. As Sybil looked over the side of the cot, watching her daughter settle, Tom looked at Sybil. Even wearing an oversized cardigan, with her hair falling messily around her shoulders, she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

When Sybil finally pulled her eyes away from her daughter, she was surprised to find Tom standing in the doorway. He held out his arms and she wrapped hers around his torso, settling her body next to his, looking into the dark room.

"She's gorgeous," Sybil whispered, careful not to wake Erin. "I still can't believe we made her."

"You had more to do with it than I did," Tom whispered before kissing the top of Sybil's head.

"I don't know about that," Sybil said with a smirk forming on her lips. "I couldn't have done it if you weren't there in the first place."

She kept her arms wrapped around Tom, now standing against him face-on, looking into his eyes. Sybil lengthened her torso to be able to reach Tom's lips, capturing him in a deep kiss.

"Syb," Tom whispered when they broke the kiss. "I have one more gift for you. I wanted to wait until everyone had gone before giving it to you."

"Oh?" she said, surprised at Tom's words.

"Come with me," he said, taking her hand and leading her down the hall to their bedroom.

Sybil sat on the bed with her legs crossed as Tom knelt at his bedside table and pulled open the bottom drawer. He brought out a box which Sybil recognised as a ring box.

"Tom…" Sybil said tentatively.

"Hear me out," Tom said, standing up and kissing Sybil before sitting next to her on the bed. "Syb, you know I love you more than I could ever put into words. You know that you're the most important woman in the world to me. I can't even begin to imagine what I'd do if I couldn't be with you, so this," he opened the box, "is an eternity ring."

The ring was white gold, twisted and adorned with diamonds.

Sybil's jaw fell and one hand snapped up to cover her mouth, whilst the other drifted towards the box.

"Tom," she murmured.

"What do you think?" Tom asked hesitantly.

"I'm speechless!" Sybil said, letting out a breathy laugh. "It must have cost you a fortune. Are they real diamonds?"

"Completely real," Tom said.

"Oh my God!" Sybil said, utterly shocked at the gift. "How could you afford this?"

"I've been putting money aside for months to save up for it."

Sybil suddenly leant forward, placed a hand on Tom's cheek and pulled him close to her for a kiss.

"I love you," she whispered against his lips, not giving him a chance to reply before kissing him again.

She fell back into her seat on the bed and her eyes flicked between Tom and the ring.

"I wanted to make sure you knew that I love you now and I will love you forever," Tom said softly.

"Oh, Tom," Sybil said, fighting back tears. "You didn't need to spend hundreds of pounds for me to know that."

"No, but you deserve it," he said. "You're the best woman I've ever known and you deserve more than anyone could ever give you."

Tom took the ring out of the box and pushed it onto Sybil's ring finger until it touched her engagement ring. Sybil stared at the ring for a moment before Tom lifted her hand to his lips. He kissed her knuckles and then leant forward to take her waist in his hands. He kissed her lips softly, saying nothing, but knowing that Sybil felt how much he loved her. Sybil placed her hands on Tom's shoulders, not wanting the kiss to end.

When the couple finally pulled away from one another to refill their lungs, Tom smiled against Sybil's lips.

They fell back onto the bed until Tom's body was hovering over Sybil's. He sewed a line of kisses along the neckline of Sybil's top, sending shivers down her spine when he reached each of her collarbones. She bucked her hips up to him, surprising herself by how much her body needed him.

Since Erin's birth, they had had sex very few times. They were told to wait six weeks after the birth before trying anything, but they couldn't wait that long. About a month after the birth, they had tried to have sex. They had avoided sex during the last month or so of Sybil's pregnancy as they couldn't find a position that was comfortable for Sybil, so with two months of little sexual contact, they were both getting rather agitated. But, inevitably, by disobeying the midwife's orders, they had let themselves in for a painful evening – on Sybil's end at least. Nothing was comfortable for Sybil and everything hurt, so they hadn't got very far. Since then, they had managed to make each other orgasm (multiple times), but not by penetrative sex. All they wanted was for things to be back to the way they were a few months ago so that they could continue their randy ways as normal.

As Sybil's hips thrust up towards Tom his lips twisted into a smile.

"Are you sure you're ready for this, love?" he asked, hoping to God that her answer would be yes.

"There's only one way to find out," she said with a smirk that she had picked up from spending so much time with Tom over the years.

Tom kissed Sybil and fiddled with the hem of her top. She sat up slightly and shrugged off her cardigan and pulled her top over her head, discarding the garments on the floor beside her. She fell back onto the bed and Tom stared at her. Her hair was splayed out on the bed in every direction, her cheeks were beginning to darken and her breathing was becoming heavier. Despite the toll of pregnancy, labour and having a new born child, her figure had recovered remarkably and Tom loved her body even more now, knowing that it had grown a life.

Tom ran one hand softly up and down Sybil's side. "Syb," he said quietly.

"Yeah," she panted.

"You're the most beautiful woman I've ever known."

He placed a soft kiss on her stomach, another on her breastbone and a final one on her lips.

"I love you," he said softly.

"I love you too," Sybil said, taking a moment to stare into her husband's eyes before unbuttoning his shirt.

Once it was unbuttoned she practically tore it off his body. Sybil sat up and ran her hands over Tom's chest.

"I need you," she whispered to him.

"The feeling's mutual," he said.

They each took off the clothes still clinging to their bodies until both of them were entirely naked.

Tom lay back on the bed and Sybil straddled him, hovering her breasts over his chest. She lowered her body until their chests were flat against one another. She kissed him gently. He said quietly, with a very thick Irish accent which only ever made an appearance when he was aroused,

"You set the pace. I don't want to hurt you."

"I promise I'll let you know if I need to stop," she said.

He naturally reached his hand up to cup and fondle her breast while they locked their lips in a kiss. Sybil quickly broke away from the kiss and said,

"No boobs, love. Still too painful."

"Sorry," he said, badly wishing that he could squeeze her breasts without any painful consequences. But he accepted Sybil's terms and moved his hands to her waist and back, which he had always found attractive.

Sybil started grinding her hips against Tom's, hardening his erection and allowing herself to get wetter, knowing that the more lubrication she had, the less painful it would be. Tom moved one hand to Sybil's front and began rubbing her clitoris with his tough fingers. Sybil moaned in pleasure, her face contorting into all sorts of expressions of desire.

"Tom," she whispered. "I need you."

She wanted him inside her, but she felt paralysed for fear of Tom stopping teasing her clitoris. Eventually, she positioned herself on Tom's cock and lowered herself down. She was in charge of setting the rhythm and the depth of the movements.

"You okay?" Tom asked.

"Uh-huh," Sybil said, making sure that she was gentle with her movements, not knowing how far she could go before the pain made an appearance.

She circled her hips against his and bounced up and down on his erect penis, slowly increasing the speed.

Tom reached down and took Sybil's arse in his hands, helping to lift her up and down. Sybil reached her own hand down to her front and began rubbing her clitoris hastily.

"Syb," Tom murmured. "This might be a quick one."

"Then we're in the same boat," she said with a smile.

After nearly two months of no penetrative sex, the two of them were desperate for it. Sybil kept the pace up and Tom revelled in the pleasure of the moment. It wasn't long before Sybil was clamping her walls around him and he was releasing his seed.

They lay next to each other, sweaty, breathing heavily and feeling as if they finally had some relief from the tension building up within them for months.

"I love you," Sybil whispered.

"Merry Christmas," Tom replied.

"A very merry Christmas indeed!" Sybil said cheekily.

Erin howled as a reminder of what such loving activities can lead to.

"I'll go," Tom said, pulling on a pair of pyjama bottoms. As usual, he didn't put on a top. Whether the air around them was cold or not, both Sybil and Tom felt very warm just at that moment.

"Thank you," Sybil said.

She loved her daughter more than she ever thought possible, but it didn't change the fact that sometimes parents simply want and need to be left alone to recover from… certain pursuits.

-ooo-

Despite the interruption, Sybil knew, deep in her heart, that this Christmas had been one of the best Christmases in her memory. The first Christmas she and Tom had hosted for their families, the first with their daughter, and the first sex since before Erin was born. Nothing could have gone much smoother. There were no arguments and no unforeseen problems, and there was a lot of laughter and love to fill the house. If that couldn't be classed as a practically perfect Christmas, Sybil didn't know what could.


End file.
